Releasable connectors



Feb. 24, 1970 T. G'EFFNER 'RELEASABLE commcwons 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 17. 1967 FIG. 2

FIG. 3

4 -a-|- V INVENTOR. TED GEFFNER ATTORNEY5 United States Patent 3,497,862 RELEASABLE CONNECTORS Ted Geffner, 48 Park Ave. E., Merrick, N.Y. 11566 Filed Aug. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 661,294 Int. Cl. H01r 13/62, 13/54 US. Cl. 339-45 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector assembly adapted to connect together a pair of lines such as hydraulic or pneumatic lines or lines in the form of electrical cables carrying electrical conductors, for example. The connector assembly includes a connecting means composed of a pair of connector units which have a connected condition where they engage each other and a disconnected position where they are separated from each other. These units are adapted respectively to be connected with the lines which are to be connected to each other by way of the connector assembly. A releasable holding means is carried by the connecting means and coacts with the units thereof releasably holding them in their connected position, this releasable holding means being displaceable between a holding position holding the units connected to each other and a release position releasing said units to assume their disconnected position. An explosive means, capable of providing an explosive force when actuated, is carried by the connecting means and coacts with the releasable holding means for displacing the latter from its holding position to its release position when the explosive means is actuated, so that in this way it is possible for the units to assume their disconnected position. The units are in the form of a male unit and a female unit which receives the male unit when the units are in their connected position, and an ejector means is provided for ejecting the male unit from the female unit when the releasable holding means is displaced to its release position. The force of the explosive means is applied to this ejector means for actuating the latter to eject the male unit from the female unit at this time. The releasable holding means itself acts during a first increment of movement to be dislaced from its holding to its release position and during a second increment of movement to transmit the explosive force to the ejector means for acting on the latter to eject the male unit from the female unit.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to connector assemblies.

The invention relates in particular to connector assemblies which are adapted to connect to each other a pair of lines of any type such as hollow tubular lines, which may be flexible or rigid, and which may be used for conveying any fluid, so that the connector assembly is capable of being used with hydraulic or pneumatic lines. Also, the connector assembly of the present invention is adapted for use with electrical lines in the form of cables, for example, which carry one or more conductors.

With conventional connectors of this type it is possible to manually connect and disconnect the units, but under certain circumstances this possibility of manual disconnection is inadequate. For example, there are situations where a substantially instantaneous disconnection is required, for certain safety purposes, for example, and up to the present time it has not been possible to efficiently provide with a simple structure a substantially instantaneous disconnection of a connector of the above general type.

Summary of the invention It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a connector assembly capable of reliably connecting lines to each other while at the same time capable of providing, in a simple, highly effectve manner, a substantially instantaneous disconnection of the lines.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a construction which can be manually operated in a very simple way to connect the lines to each other and which at the same time can be substantially instantaneously operated to provide a positive separation of elements of the connector assembly from each other so as to disconnect the lines.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction of the above type which need not necessarily have an instantaneous forceful disconnection of the lines, but instead can, if desired, also be manually disconnected whenever desired.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a structure which is capable of fulfilling all of the above objects while at the same time being composed of a simple, relatively inexpensive assembly of rugged elements which will operate very reliably to achieve the desired results.

In accordance with the invention the connector assembly for connecting a pair of lines to each other includes a connecting means which is composed of a pair of connector units which have a connected position where these units engage each other and a disconnected position where these units are separated from each other. A releasable holding means coacts with the connecting means for relcasably holding the units thereof in their connected position, and this releasable holding means is displaceable between a holding position where it will hold the units connected to each other and a release position where it will release the units to assume their disconnected position. An explosive means is carried by the connecting means and coacts with the releasable holding means for providing an explosive force which acts on the releasable holding means to substantially instantaneously displace the latter from its holding to it release position, so that there is a substantially instantaneous release of the units to assume their disconnected position. An ejector means is carried by the connecting means and coacts therewith for positively ejecting one of the units from the other, and this ejector means is itself acted upon by the explosive force after the holding means has been displaced to its release position. This holding means is itself situated between the ejector means and the explosive means so as to be acted upon by the latter to be displaced from its holding to its release position and so as to be further acted upon by the explosive force for transmitting this explosive force to the ejector means to act on the latter to eject the one unit from the other unit, this one unit being, for example, a male unit which is received in a female unit and is positively ejected from the latter by the ejector means in response to transmission of the explosive force to the ejector means through the releasable holding means after the latter has been first displaced from its holding to its release position.

Brief description of the drawings The invention is illustrated by Way of example'in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applica tion and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional side elevation of one possible embodiment of a connector assembly according to the invention, FIG. 1 in particular showing the female unit in a longitudinal section taken in a plane which contains the axis of the female unit;

FIG. 2 shows the units of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 in their connected position where they engage each other and are locked to each other, part of the male unit being also shown in section in FIG. 2;

3 FIG. 3 illustrates the parts of FIG. 2 in the position they assume during actution of an ejector means which positively ejects the male unit from the female unit; and FIG. 4 is a transverse end view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows.

Description of a preferred embodiment The structure of the invention which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a connecting means which forms the connector assembly of the invention and which is composed of a male connecting unit 12 and a female connecting unit 14. The male connecting unit 12 is connected with a line 16 while the female connecting unit 14 is connected with a line 18, and it is these lines 16 and 18 which are to be connected to each other by the connector assembly of the invention. The lines which are connected to each other can be hollow flexible or rigid conduits for conveying hydraulic or pneumatic fluids, but in the illustrated example the lines 16 and 18 are shown as taking the form of electrical cables having therein electrical conductors which are insulated from each other. Thus, the cable 16 has the conductors 20 while the cable 18 has the conductors 22, and a known structure 24 serves to connect the cable 16 to the male unit 12 while a known structure 26 serves to fix the cable 18 to the female unit 14.

The female unit 14 has a hollow substantially cylindrical interior 28 within which are situated prongs 30 which are respectively fixed to the several conductors 22 while being insulated from each other in a well known manner, and these prongs 30 are capable of being received in the receptacle bores 32, respectively, of a receptacle unit connected to the cable 16 and housed within a cylindrical portion 34 of the male unit 12. This cylindrical portion 34 terminates in a bevelled edge .36 which is slightly spaced axially from an annular groove 38 formed in the exterior of the cylindrical part 34 of the male unit 12. This male unit 12 further includes a collar 40 which is fixed to and surrounds the cylindrical portion 34 thereof, as shown in FIG. 1.

The units 12 and 14 are shown in their disconnected position in FIG. 1 where these units are separated from each other, and the units are shown in FIG. 2 in their connected position where they engage each other, and in this position not only is the male unit received within the female unit, but in addition the collar 40 rests against the end face 42 of the female unit.

The wall of the female unit 14 which surrounds the hollow interior 28 thereof, is of a solid unitary construction in the region of the right end of this wall, while to the left of this solid unitary region the wall of the female unit is composed of an inner wall portion 44 which directly surrounds the space 28 and an outer wall portion 46 which surrounds and is spaced from the wall 44 to define with the latter an elongated interior hollow space 48 which is itself of substantially cylindrical configuration.

This hollow interior space 48 between the inner wall portion 44 and outer wall portion 46 serves to accommodate a releasable holding means 50 which is axially shiftable in the hollow wall of the female unit 14 between the release position shown in FIG. 1 and the holding position shown in FIG. 2, and in addition the hollow interior space 48 between the inner and outer wall portions of the female unit serves to accommodate, for axial shifting movement, an ejector means 52 which acts in a manner described below to provide for ejection of the male unit from the female unit 14 when these units are to be separated so as to assume hteir disconnected position shown in FIG. 1.

At the inner end of the space 48 which is most distant from the end face 42, the wall of the female unit 14 is formed at the region where this wall is of a solid unitary construction with an annular groove 54 extending completely around the axis of the female unit 14. The outer wall 46 is composed of a wall portion 46a which is integral with the solid unitary body portion of the cylindrical wall of the unit 14 and with a portion 461) which is threaded onto the portion 46a so as to form an extension thereof which terminates at the end face 42 in an inwardly directed annular flange 56. The inner wall portion 44 has an inner part 44a integral with the solid unitary portion of the cylindrical wall of the unit 14, and the wall 44 has an outer part 441) threaded onto the part 44a and having at the end face 42 an outwardly directed flange 58 extending all around the axis of the female unit. The solid unitary portion of the wall of the unit 14 is formed with one or more threaded bores for receiving one or more explosive means 60 in the form of a squib connected by electrical leads 62 to a circuit which may be closed for igniting the squib 60 so as to provide an explosive force. The threaded bore in which the squib 60 is mounted communicates directly with the groove 54 so that in this way the explosive force will be directly transmitted through the groove 54 into and all around the space 48 between the inner and outer wall portions 44 and '46 respectively.

The part 44a of the inner wall portion 44 of the female unit 14 is formed with a plurality of openings 64 which accommodate ball members 66 which form releasable holding elements of the releasable holding means 50. The ball members 56, while displaceable radially with respect to the openings 64 can project inwardly beyond the latter to a limited extent only sufiicient to extend into the groove 38 when the parts have the position shown in FIG. 2, and of course the ball members 66 can be displaced outwardly away from the hollow interior 28 of the female unit toward the space 48 through the openings 64, respectively.

The releasable holding means includes, in addition to the holding elements 66 an axially shiftable ring 68 formed at its interior with a plurality of axially extending grooves 70 for respectively accommodating the ball members 66. It will be noted that these grooves 70 have a length considerably greater than the diameters of the ball members 66. Beyond the grooves 70 the cylindrical slide ring 68 of the releasable holding means 50 has an inner cylindrical surface 72 which engages the ball members 66 to hold the latter in the groove 38 when the parts have the position shown in FIG. 2.

A relatively light spring 74 is situated between the inner surface of the outer wall portion 46 and the outer surface of the ring 68 engaging a shoulder of this ring, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so as to urge the ring 68 of the rleleasable holding means to the left, as viewed in FIGS.

and 2.

The ejector means 52 is in the form of an ejector ring 78 which projects through a slot at the end face 42 which is defined between the flanges 56 and 58 and which com municates with the hollow space 48 between the inner and outer wall portions of the female unit 14. The ejector ring 78 has at its inner end outwardly directed flanges 80 and 82 which respectively coact with the inwardly directed flanges 56 and 58 to limit the outward movement of the ejector means 52 to the position indicated in FIG. 1. Those faces of the ring 78 and ring 68 which are directed toward each other are formed with annular grooves which accommodate the ends of a coil spring 84 which is considerably stronger than the relatively light spring 74 and which forms a spring means urging the ejector means 52 and the releasable holding means 50 apart from each other.

The solid unitary right portion of the cylindrical wall of unit 14 is formed with at least one additional tapped bore for receiving a plug 86 of a manually operable means 88 which enables the units 12 and 14 to be manually separated to assume their disconnected position shown in FIG. 1. This manually operable means 88 includes, in addition to the plug 86, a plunger 90 which extends slidably through an axial bore of the plug 86 and which has at its inner end an enlarged portion limiting the outward movement of the plunger 90 through the bore of the plug 86. At its outer portion the plunger 90 is threaded into a handle or button 92, and a spring 94 engages the inner surface of the handle 92 and the outer surface of the solid unitary wall portion of the female unit 14 so as to urge the manually operable means to the illustrated rest position thereof shown in FIG. 1.

When the units 12 and 14 are disconnected and thus separated from each other, as indicated in FIG. 1, and it is desired to connect the units 12 and 14 to each other so as to place the connecting means in its connected position, then the operator need only insert the part 34 of the male unit 12 into the hollow interior 28 of the female unit 14, so that the prongs 30 will be received in the receptacle bores 32, and this movement of the units relative to each other is continued until the units assume the connected position shown in FIGS. 2. At the time when the bevelled edge 36 of the unit 12 is in the region of the openings 64 of the inner wall portion 44, the collar 40 will engage the ejector ring 78, and during the continued assembly of the units 12 and 14 the collar 40 will displace the ring 78 inwardly in opposition to the relatively light spring 74, the stronger spring 84 simply transmitting the movement of the ejector ring 78 to the ring 68 of the releasable holding means 50, at this time. After a slight inward movement of the ejector ring 78, the ball members 66 will engage part 34 of unit 12 at the region thereof between the groove 38 and the bevelled edge 36, and the ball members 66 will be incapable of further inward displacement so that now the spring 84 is compressed while the male unit continues to progress toward its position shown in FIG. 1 and the ball members are acted upon to prevent axial displacement of the ring 68 as a result of the pressure from the outer cylindrical surface of the part 34. However, as soon as the male unit reaches the position shown in FIG. 2, the groove 38 will be aligned with the bore 64 so that the spring 84 can immediately expand, compressing the weaker spring 74 while displacing the ball members through the bores 64 into the groove 38 and the ring 68 from the position of FIG. 1 into the position of FIG. 2 where the inner cylindrical surface 72 engages the ball members 66 to hold the latter in the groove 38, and thus the parts are locked to each other at this time. In this way the releasable holding means 50 has been displaced from its release position to its holding position shown in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that in its position shown in FIG. 3, the ring 68 is situated to the right of the position thereof shown in FIG. 1, which represents the rest position of the ring 68 where it is situated to the left of its actual release position.

Assuming now that it is desired for any reason whatsoever to substantialy instantaneously cause the parts to be displaced from the position of FIG. 2 into the position of FIG. 1, then the electrical circuit which includes the leads 62 will be completed in any suitable manner and the squib 60 will be ignited so as to provide the explosive force which will act through the groove 54 on the releasable holding means 50. It is to be noted that during the initial movement of the ring 68 to the left from the position of FIG. 2 the ejector means 52 cannot be displaced. The ejector means is maintained at the initial instant of the explosion provided by the explosive means 60 in the position shown in FIG. 2 because the releasable holding means 50 is still in its holding position where the ball members 66 are in the groove 38 and the male unit 12 cannot yet be displaced out of the female unit 14.

Because of this arrangement the structure necessarily operates during the initial part of the explosion to apply the explosive force to the ring 68 of the releasable holding means 50 so as to displace the latter from its holding position shown in FIG. 2 to its release position where the ring 68 is situated slightly to the right of its position shown in FIG. 3 and has been displaced axially to the 6 left, as viewed in FIG. 2, through an increment sufiicient to locate the left ends of the grooves 70 in alignment with the ball members so that the latter can be displaced into the grooves 70. Thus, initially the ejector means is not moved and only the releasable holding means is displaced from its holding to its release position.

This releasable holding means, because of the length of the groove 70, is capable of being advanced by the force of the explosion through a second increment, beyond the first increment required for displaceemnt of the releasable means from its holding to its release position, and it is during displacement of the releasable holding means through this second increment that it transmits the explosive force of the explosive means 60 to the ejector means for acting on the latter to forcibly and positively eject the male unit from the female unit, and the parts are shown during this phase of the operation in FIG. 3. Thus, the explosive force will first act to compress the spring 84 while the ejector means remains in the position of FIG. 2, and during the initial increment of movement of the releasable holding means it is displaced from its holding to its release position, whereupon the releasable holding means is then advanced through a second increment of movement by the explosive force to further compress the spring 84 and place the ring 68 directly into engagement with the ejector ring 78 so as to directly transmit the explosive force to the latter for positively ejecting the male unit from the female unit. The force of the explosion is such that the flanges 80 and 82 of the ejector ring 78 respectively engage the flanges 56 and 58 of the outer and inner wall portions of the female unit while the spring 84 is in the fully compressed condition shown in FIG. 3 with the ring 68 engaging the ring 78, and after the male unit has been forcibly ejected the spring 84 can expand back to the position shown in FIG. 1 where it only opposes the relatively light force of the spring 74 and the parts will now remain in their rest position indicated in FIG. 1.

Of course, the parts will operate in the above described manner to provide substantially instantaneous disconnection of the connnector of the invention under emergency conditions, for example. As is indicated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 4, additional squib activators 60 may be provided as required. Also it is to be noted that the axial length of the ejector ring 78 may be altered to provide any desired ejection stroke. Also, the outer end face of the ring 78 may carry any suitable sealing rings or the like, and the same is true of the right end face of the collar 40, so that in this way a fluid-tight connection can be assured, which may be highly desirable in the case where the lines 16 and 18 are fluid lines, particularly for fluids under pressure.

However it is not essential to provide a substantially instantaneous disconnection of the unit 12 and 14. The manually operable means 88 can be actuated at any time to provide disconnection of the units 12 and 14. For this purpose the operator need only depress the button 92 in opposition to the spring 94 so as to press the plunger against the ring 68, thus displacing the latter first to its release position, permitting the ball members to move out of the groove 38, and then during the continued manual displacement of the ring 68 through its second increment of displacement it will act through the spring 84 on the ejector ring 78 to provide for positive separation of the unit 12 from the unit 14. In this way manual separation of the connector units 12 and 14 can be achieved under non-emergency conditions when substantially instantaneous disconnection is not required. At this time it is not necessary to fire the squib or squibs 60.

Thus, with the above-described exceedingly simple structure of the invention, which is composed of a relatively small number of rugged, reliably operating components it is possible on the one hand to provide a substantially instantaneous disconnection of the units 12 and 14 with the releasable holding means 50 acting not only to release the units for separation to their disconnected position, but also to transmit the explosive force to the ejector means 52, and on the other hand it is possible to provide at any time a manual disconnection without actuating the explosive means 60.

What is claimed is:

1. A connector assembly for connecting a pair of lines to each other, said assembly comprising connecting means including a pair of connector units respectively adapted to be connected with a pair of lines which are to be connected to each other, said connector units of said connecting means having a connected position where they engage each other and a disconnected position where they are separated from each other, releasable holding means coacting with said connecting means for releasably holding said units thereof in said connected position, said releasable holding means being displaceable with respect to said connecting means between a holding position releasably holding said units connected to each other and a release position releasing said units to assume said disconnected position where they are separated from each other, ejector means carried by one of said units and movable axially in a direction to separate said units, and explosive means for providing an explosive force when actuated, said explosive means being carried by said connecting means and coacting with said releasable holding means for displacing the latter from said holding to said release position thereof and coacting with said ejector means for moving the latter, when said explosive means is actuated, to thus release said units and cause them to assume said disconnected position.

2. The combination of claim 1 which includes a manually operable means carried by said connecting means in a position to coact with said releasable holding means for displacing the latter from said holding to said release position thereof.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said connector units include a male unit and a female unit, said male unit being received in said female unit when said units are in engagement with each other in said connected position thereof, and the ejector means being car ried by said connecting means and coacting with said units thereof for ejecting said male unit from said female unit when said holding means has been displaced from said holding to said release position thereof, the force of said explosive means, when the latter is actuated, being transmitted to said ejector means for acting on the latter to eject said male unit from said female unit when said holding means has been displaced to said release position thereof.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which said releasable holding means is operatively situated with respect to said explosive means and said ejector means to be displaced by the force of said explosive means, when the latter is actuated, from said holding to said release position before said ejector means acts to reject said male unit from said female unit, said releasable holding means then coacting with said ejector means for transmitting the explosive force of said explosive means thereto for actuating said ejector means to eject said male unit from said female unit.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which said female unit has a hollow interior which is open at one end and an annular end face at said one end surrounding said hollow interior thereof, said male unit having a portion received in said hollow interior of said female unit and a collar engaging said annular end face of said female unit when said units are in said connected position, said female unit having a hollow wall which terminates at one end at said end face of said female unit, and said hollow wall having an inner wall portion surrounding the hollow interior of said female unit and an outer wall portion spaced from and surrounding said inner wall portion to define with the latter an inner space of said hollow wall, said releasable holding means being axially shiftable in said inner space and including releasable holding elements which project through said inner wall portion to engage said male unit when said units are in their connected position, said shiftable releasable holding means being relatively distant from said end face of said female unit when said releasable holding means is in said holding position thereof, said female unit being formed at said end face with an annular slot extending from said end face into communication with the space between said inner and outer wall portions, and said ejector means including a ring shiftable in said space between said releasable holding means and said end face and projecting through said annular slot when said units are in their disconnected position, said explosive means being carried by said female unit at a side of said releasable holding means opposite from said end face of said female unit, and said explosive means communicating with the space between said wall portions for driving, when said explosive means is actuated, said releasable holding means toward said end face through a first increment displacing said releasable holding means to said release position thereof where said releasable holding elements no longer prevent separation of said units, and the explosive force then continuing to displace said releasable holding means beyond said first increment through a. second increment where said releasable holding means engages said ejector means and drives the latter outwardly through said slot for engaging said collar of said male unit and ejecting the latter from said female unit.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which a spring means is situated between said ejector means and said releasable holding means in said space between said wall portions for yieldably urging said ejector means and releasable holdin-g means apart from each other.

7. The combination of claim 5 in which said inner Wall portion is formed with openings communicating with the hollow interior of said female units surrounded thereby, said releasable holding elements including ball members situated in said openings to be displaced therethrough to and from positions engaging said male unit, said releasable holding means further including a substantially cylindrical ring slidable in said space between said wall portions and formed with elongated axially extending grooves which receive said ball members, said grooves having a length substantially greater than the diameter of said ball members so that said ball members may be initially received in said grooves of said ring at the region of one end of said grooves when said releasable holding means has been displaced through said first increment, while said grooves have a length great enough to provide for said ring of said releasable holding means movement through said increment for transmitting the explosive force to said ejecting means.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which a manually operable means is carried by said female unit for acting on said releasable holding means to manually displace the latter from said holding to said release position through said first increment and to manually displace said releasable holding means through said second increment for transmitting a manual force to said ejector means for acting on the latter to eject said male unit from said female unit.

9. The combination of claim 8 in which said manually operable means includes an elongated spring-pressed plunger movable along the interior space between said wall portions to engage said releasable holding means and actuate the latter, said plunger having an outer exposed portion accessible to the operator for manual engagement.

10. The combination of claim 7 in which said ring of said releasable holding means has an inner cylindrical 9 surface situated beyond said grooves thereof and engaging said ball members for holding the latter in engagement with said male unit when said releasable holding means is in said holding position thereof.

11. The combination of claim 10 in which said male unit has an outer cylindrical portion formed with an annular groove aligned with said openings at said inner wall portion of said female unit when said units are in their connected position so that said ball members will extend into said groove of said male'unit for releasable locking the latter with said female unit when said units are in their connected position.

10 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,409,650 10/ 1946 Wiggins 285-316 3,023,030 2/1962 Torres 2853l6 XR 3,059,207 10/ 1962 Baird.

3,360,764 12/1967 Bac.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner 10 P. A. CLIFFORD, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

